Nothing is simple about history. Every angle of perspective is at once true - and hopelessly incomplete. Every discovered detail a window - in a labyrinth.

Yet, is-spite of this, plateaus of understanding exist. Could've been and should've been ultimately give way to is.

But oft times the is of now does more to mask the impact of was than anything else. The Sacred Valley of the Inca is filled with what was.

And, in many ways, little of what now is seems organically connected to it; and often even less of it seems to have changed at all. Both perspectives are true; neither is complete.

Time and beingThe conquest of the Inca by the treasure hunting Spaniards was a tragedy to some - an essential bridge to others. The ancient civilizations of every continent were always doomed to be absorbed into each other.

Incan Pisaq view of Spanish Pisaq

Like the seasons themselves, a pattern of contact and assimilation has been followed for as long as time has existed. It could never be otherwise. The only constant - is change.

Yet, as nature herself is now demonstrating, this process, these seasons, are far from abstract; anything but neutral. There is a path to history, a direction. There are results. There is a destination.

Arrival at ourselvesThe Sacred Valley is haunted with ancient paths and themes. If for no other reason, the physical juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary serve to constantly throw our now into the contrasting shadow of was.

And that constant tension permeates the atmosphere; is present in every interaction, both physical and cerebral. More so than most places. And it is special because of that.

So we walk the paths; ruminate about the themes. Our journeys become struggles within ourselves - to see ourselves - to know ourselves. We look for what we think we have yet to learn - and we more often than not see truths we feel - but somehow still don't know.

600 Years of SolitudeThe rediscovery of the Inca city of Machu Picchu is officially recognized as taking place in 1911 when Hiram Bingham stumbled on the site while looking for the lost city of Vilcabamba. Of such good fortune are many careers made.

Other Western explorers had also been to the site, but their goal had been to plunder, not to study. Bingham, on the other hand, returned to the site in 1912 at the behest of Yale University and the National Geographic Society for the express purpose of documenting the find and conducting research. He is thus credited with the discovery, exactly 100 years ago.

That Machu Picchu was still there to find is somewhat of a miracle. The city had been essentially abandoned a few decades before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors, and as a result, was never discovered by them.

If they had discovered it, there would probably be a big Catholic cathedral there now instead of the essentially intact remnants of an Incan civilization. At the very least, it would've been completely destroyed for being pagan, as the Spanish had done to every other indigenous site they discovered anywhere in the Americas. Of such good fortune are miracles born.

Bingham - a Punahou graduate

The End - and Beginning of PlunderThis discovery not only revealed Machu Picchu to the world, but it also prevented treasure hunters from continuing to steal items from the site. Or so it seemed.

However, during the years immediately following Bingham's discovery, thousands of priceless artifacts were removed by the explorer himself and shipped to Yale University in the United States; ostensibly on loan for purposes of research.

The only thing is, the loaned items were never returned, despite repeated demands for such by the government of Peru. At first Yale took the position that Peru, as a third-world nation, could not be trusted with the priceless artifacts and simply refused to honor their earlier pledge to return them. As far as Yale was concerned, that was the end of the discussion; forever.

Ultimately, The National Geographic Society, who had also been part of the original agreement, declared their support for Peru's ownership of the artifacts and began to pressure Yale to relent and return their treasure. Meanwhile, the Peruvian government began legal action in US courts to force the return.

In the face of this double effort, Yale simply stopped talking. As far as they were concerned, the discussion was over.

Garcia & another Punahou graduate

Feliz CumpleañosBut late last year former Peruvian President Alan Garcia appealed directly to President Barack Obama to intervene on Peru's behalf. And with Obama, Garcia was preaching to the choir.

Within two weeks of that appeal, Obama summoned Yale representatives to the White House and shortly thereafter Yale announced that they would indeed - at long last - return all of the more than 40,000 "borrowed" artifacts to Peru.

That process is now underway. The first shipment, containing all of the museum quality pieces, arrived in Peru earlier this year to great fanfare. Eventually, these pieces will be displayed in the Inca Museum at the Casa Concha in Cusco.Happy birthday Machu Picchu!

As I've mentioned in these pages before, I tend to shy away from the 'social' when it comes to hotel arrangements on the road. And as I've also mentioned here, my 'significant other' has other ideas on this subject, so Bed & Breakfast type accommodations have increasingly started to pop-up in my (our) travel itineraries.

I continue to dread each one - and continue to be proven completely wrong in my predisposition against such arrangements - which only serves to weaken each future argument against choosing another.

And now it has happened again.

We planned to spend just two days in Arequipa, so I figured I could gut this one out, even if only to finally score a point. This time I was certain my initial hesitancy would be proven correct and I would gain valuable capital for future debates over potential hotel arrangements.

Arrival in Arequipa

With this is mind, I acquiesced and agreed to stay at a place called Lula's B&B. An apartment rather than a house, it sounded more like being someone's roommate that a guest in a hotel.

I was dubious - to put it mildly. Just not the kind of arrangement someone as anti-social as me should get involved with.

But relationships are built on compromise, so with that in-mind, I gulped and mumbled a somewhat less than enthusiastic - adalante.

Wllkommen bei ArequipaLula's is run by a husband/wife couple out of their modern, top floor apartment in a gated complex a mile or so from Arequipa's central Plaza de Armas.

We were met at the airport by the husband - and this was my first surprise. A tall, gray-haired Gringo man in his mid-60's, rather stern looking on first-impression, greeted us in German-accented French with a hearty Bonjour. Hmmm. Not really the Peruvian experience I had envisioned.

El Misti volcano from the apartment

Max is the husband-half of Lula's B&B; a Swiss-born perpetual expatriate who has lived in more places than I've visited - I was immediately intrigued.

As he drove us to the B&B, we began exploring which language would be our chosen form of communication. My girlfriend's native French, Max's adopted Spanish, or my English. This exploration was never fully resolved - and at some point German and Portuguese were added to the mix. I speak elements of several - Max is completely fluent in each. Hmmm. Intriguing indeed.

Home Sweet HomeArriving at the B&B building, we huffed and puffed our way to the top floor to discover a lovely and very home-style apartment with a wonderful view of the surrounding neighborhoods and terraced farm fields. Spacious, with a comfortably furnished living room and adjacent dining area as you enter.

Breakfast on the terrace

To your right you pass through a doorway leading to a mid-sized TV room, which also has a desk housing a 15" internet-equipped PC laptop, provided for guests. Pass through this room and you reach the large kitchen, affording another panoramic view, now of the opposite side of the complex.

From here a small spiral-staircase leads to the second floor where the guest facilities are located. This is actually two rooms; the main bedroom, small but adequate, with a very comfortable queen-sized bed, desk, TV (with international cable channels), and a smaller adjacent room with a twin-sized bed and plenty of closet space. A door in the main bedroom leads to the private bathroom and shower.

Next to the guest quarters is another doorway that leads to the large outdoor terrace which both overlooks the surrounding area and gives a quite spectacular view of the looming Andes. In-fact, El Misti Volcano seems close enough to touch.

And it is here that our private breakfast was served each morning. Max presents you with a menu as part of your arrival orientation - and you select which items you'd like the following morning. The selection is wide - and the final result excellent.

Journal writing with a view

I was beginning to relax. Yes, it's an apartment, not a house. But the physical arrangement of the rooms gives you complete privacy - and access to what can only be described as a magnificent terrace.

As we prepared to leave for our first full day in Arequipa, Max quizzed us as to what we'd like for dinner that evening. I mentioned that I am a vegetarian - well, a vegan to be precise - but am flexible while traveling. Pork - no. Fish or chicken - in the spirit of adaptability - no problem. And with that we were off.

Upon returning that evening for dinner - the social part of our stay began. We finally met Lula, the wife half of the team and namesake of the B&B.

Lula is a charming 50-something Arequipa born Peruvian woman who also runs a Spanish language school during the day. And like her polyglot husband, speaks a variety of languages.

Max is the chef of the house, and the kitchen is the nerve-center for the evening. We were introduced to our first ever Pisco Sour (in a word - Mmmm) as an aperitif while Max cooked - and conversed. A former UN official and economist, Max and Lula have lived all over the world - and been involved in fascinating events in each locale.

Max preparing my "vegetarian" meal

Dinner at Lula'sAs a writer and one time history teacher, I usually do not find it very difficult to hold my own in discussions of travel, politics, social-issues, and the like; the standard fare at traveler's dinner tables. But after 10 minutes of talking with Max, I knew I was completely overmatched.

An evening with Max is to be in the presence of a true Renaissance man. And not a shy one. Max not only has opinions and views on everything - but informed opinions and views, usually based in concrete, first-hand experience.

Half-way through our dinner preparations one of Lula's students dropped by; a young Czech world traveler camped for a while in Arequipa to learn Spanish. Then Max's Peruvian handy man arrived, a nattily dressed, thoughtful young man who seemed to be a master of everything practical in life - and totally charming. Then Lula left for a bit to walk the dog. Eventually we all decamped to the dining room to eat.

In other words - dinner was an event. With discussions ranging from the difficulties in rebuilding war-torn Kosovo, to the syntactic particularities of French, Spanish, and Serbo-Croation, to the economic theories of availability bias, and even why global-warming may save, instead of threaten, the Earth.

I was even joyfully reintroduced to the musically intellectual wit of Tom Lehrer after a hiatus of many years. And in many ways - dinner with Max is very much akin to an evening with Mr. Lehrer. You are treated to a wide-ranging discussion of fascinating and expertly understood subjects that leave you thoughtful, slightly humbled - and thoroughly amused. And occasionally devilishly perplexed - as if listening to Mr. Lehrer explain New Math (see below).

Lula & yours truly

Bias transcendedSo the moral of the story? Well - I've completely abandoned all future attempts to avoid B&B's and social interaction in my future travels - that's for sure.

Why? Because I now realize that my previous preference for regular hotels over B&B's was simply based upon my more extensive familiarity with the regular; not on bad B&B experiences. It was a bias born of available information; that is, an availability bias. A concept, by the way, that I was completely ignorant of until that dinner with Max.

Second moral of the story; my girlfriend has finally triumphed. And I'm glad.

Lula's B&B is an absolute treasure - and if your travels take you to Arequipa, don't pass it by.http://www.bbaqpe.com/

There is no word in Quechua for 'friend'; one can only call another brother or sister. Nor does this ancient Peruvian language have a word for Goodbye. In place of this rather final sounding sentiment is a word meaning "till next time".

To some, these two linguistic anomalies are nothing more than technical matters reflecting the difficulty inherent in all translations. Some even attribute the difference to a lack of precision in ancient tongues, reflecting their lack of intellectual evolution.

After all, modern languages like French and English have many more words conveying an ever increasing precision of meaning and nuance. And viewed from this perspective, some have concluded that Quechua meanings are simply echoes of a simpler - less complex culture and time. The lack of ostensible exactness merely a semantic relic; an archaeologic footnote.

Or so it seems to some.

The Now of Lima

The Modern WorldMost visitors to Peru first arrive in Lima, the sprawling modern metropolis founded in 1535 by the Spanish ConquistadorFrancisco Pizarro. More than 1/3 of the entire Peruvian population resides here, and for many it is the very quintessence of contemporary Peru. Walking its streets is akin to a stroll in New York, Mexico City, or any number of similar giant cities of the modern world.

Founded to facilitate the export of stolen treasure, its raison d'être is, and has always been, expediency. Lima's concerns are rooted in the practical demands of today's world; of the here and now. Her gaze is riveted on the commercial concerns of the moment. Little, if any, energy is devoted to looking backwards. The path from today to tomorrow consumes the attention of Lima; the cob-web covered road to the past is barely noticed - rarely traversed.

From the state-of-the-art newness and sophistication of Miraflores to the ramshackle slums of her outskirts - Lima is the capital of the present; the King of Now.

Where breathing is a challenge, and time desolves

Into the AndesImmediately upon arriving in any city of southern Peru you know you are in a world apart from that of Lima. If nothing else, the altitude at once grabs your attention as you struggle for breath in the oxygen thin air of the Andes.

From the relatively lower elevation of Arequipa's volcano surrounded 2,335 meters to that of La Raya at 4,335 - the Peruvian Andes compel acknowledgement of their uniqueness. And in every corner of the altiplano you sense differentness; the unique is ever present.

Skins are darker, languages more diverse, colors distinctly vibrant and new as you reach the rarefied environment of southern Peru. Not only do you struggle for breath in this somewhat otherworldly terrain - but for focus as well.

The third-eye of your mind blinks again and again to clear the now from your consciousness as you are continually presented with something strangely other; something just beyond the focal-plane of your present-based gaze. Something decidedly un-now.

Portal in time; above Cuzco at Saqsaywaman

The Capital of the IncaWhile the cities of Arequipa, Juliaca, and Puno are each captivating and deserving a visit - it is Cuzco that is the portal to the otherworld that travelers to this region strive so hard to bring into focus. Here is the center of the Inca culture and the gateway to some of the most fascinating and mysterious historical sites on the planet.

With neighborhoods climbing into the hills surrounding its ancient core in the Urubamba river valley, Cuzco is striking in both its locale and its history.

Its very name is a Spanish transliteration from the Quechuan original Qusqu or Qosqo, which itself traces its origin to the even more ancient Aymara language. Both tongues are still widely spoken in the Andes.

Indeed, the roots of history here stretch much further back than the time of the Inca. Archaeological research indicates that pre-Incan civilizations can be dated to 7000 BCE.

So the basic psyche of the aboriginal Peruvian culture had been formed during many millennia prior to the Spanish conquest of the Inca in 1533. And that ancientness can be sensed, in a thousand different ways, just beneath the surface, in and around the Cuzco of today.

Still Waters Run DeepOne gets an odd feeling sitting in the main cathedral of Cuzco today. Everywhere you look you notice that each pillar and wall is constructed of the stones taken from destroyed Incan temples and buildings. The Inca were forced to worship their conqueror's God amidst the reconfigured remnants of their own past.

Ancient echoes

Yet as I stood one morning watching my ostensibly Christian, Spanish (as a second language) speaking Quechua guide demonstrate to me the proper procedure for giving coca leaves to "The Gods" before ingesting them ourselves, I realized that this culture had only been subjugated; never conquered.

As you browse Quechua markets seeing ebony pumas, serpents, and Inca crosses everywhere - you can feel it. As you stare into the coal black eyes of Incan descendants - eyes that seem to look back from another place - another epoch - you begin to sense the depth of time and place that lies behind those otherworldly glances.

As you see festivals spilling spontaneously into the streets - the participants dancing steps with origins lost in the far distant past - wearing costumes which pre-date Christ - you somehow know that the cathedrals and plazas of the Conquistadors are but a ripple on the surface of a very still, and very deep river.

And as you begin to absorb these messages - you begin to see why the Quechua has no word for friend - only for brother/sister.You begin to know why goodbye never entered their language; why all leave-takings are seen as temporary; ephemeral.

As I left my guide before my return home - I knew that I had been subtly changed in some way by contact with these currents; by staring into this river. No words can adequately convey the nature of that change in me. I only know that as I left - I was certain that I would see my brother again.

Yesterday I made my way from Puno to Cuzco on a 10 hour bus ride across the Andean Altiplano. It was one of the (if not the) most scenic rides of my life. Wide stretches of total desolation, pampas, and mountains reaching 6000 meters, dotted with peasant villages filled with the descendants of the Incas.

The Altiplano is the high country of the Andes - well over 4000 meters. The air is thin and moving faster than a turtle is ill-advised. Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse of this wonderland.

Author

I'm a writer living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Montréal, Québec - and this is my blog. Some of my writing is practical, some philosophical, but all of it generally accurate and occasionally amusing. You might stumble on a rant here and there - but otherwise it's a pretty relaxed, fairly interesting spot to spend a few minutes.Welcome.